About your holiday: We can give you 20% discount on our own house Casa del Lupo. We have our own apartment attached to the house - its actually the top floor but as its against a hillside we have our own car park, entrance and garden quite separate from the main house. At this stage, I have no idea when we will be there though of course Emma and Martin and our grand-daughters live in the area permanently. We have wi-fi internet connection. The pool is also fenced. We can give you 10% on everything else. Other places to look at are:
Sommavilla-Casa Ragazzi - fenced pool shared with the Cantina - wi-fi internet facility at the owner's restaurant a few km from the house.
San Martino - a typical agriturismo with a restaurant on site - some internet facilities
Le Sette Vene - Casa Piero: simply furnished but very well kept - no internet at present but there maybe by the spring.
Casa Gorgacce - the first house we bought in Italy and now owned by friends - simple farmhouse, small garden area and nice, fenced pool. No internet facility though you can get it with a plug-in via TIM (TelecomItalia Mobile)
All those are in the Niccone valley, the centre of our operation, except our own house which is just over the hill.
Everywhere has a cot and some have high chairs.
1. Are bed linen and towels
included in the rental?
- Yes. The beds will be made ready for your arrival, and there
will be towels put out for you. At some houses pool towels are
also supplied, and this is indicated on the website. If there
is no indication, then you need to take pool towels with you.
The beds will be changed each weekend if you are going for longer
than a week.
2. Are there any extra charges?
No, except for central heating when needed, November to March
(some years part of April and October).
3. Which are the best airports to
use from the UK?
- The nearest aiport is Perugia (thirty minutes) and from December 20, 2006 there are three Ryanair flights a week from Stansted on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. . There are direct flights from Gatwick to Florence (90 minutes) which is the next nearest. All the other airports are between 90 and 150 minutes away.
Many people from Britain fly from Stansted with Ryanair. Their
other destinations are Pisa, Forli-Bologna, Ancona and Rome. For our
area Forli is excellent because within fifteen minutes of the
airport there is a dual carriageway road that has an exit just
ten to fifteen minutes from most of the houses we rent; about
90 minutes altogether. Ancona is another favoured destination.
It takes about the same time although the route is not so straightforward
though we give detailed directions.
It is best to book the car rental at the time of booking the air
tickets, particularly if you do it on-line.
Try ryanair.com and easyjet.
Easyjet fly to Bologna, Pisa and Rome from Stansted, Bristol,
and Belfast including Rome flights from Gatwick. The drive will
then take about 150 minutes by car.
British Airways and Alitalia fly to Pisa, Bologna and Rome and
many guests use those routes.
BMi also fly to Italy from Heathrow.
There are new routes being opened from various UK regional airports
eg Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Belfast, E. Midlands,
Luton, Liverpool, Durham Tees; check the no-frills websites.
4. Which are the best inter-continental
airports to use?
- Rome, Pisa, Florence, Bologna.
5. Do we need to rent a car?
- Yes, for the vast majority of our places. The rural area of
Italy where we are situated, the Niccone valley and surrounding
area, is very under-populated, so public transport is almost non-existent.
The roads are consequently traffic-free.
It is possible to stay in Spello and Cortona without a car, but
even here your options would be fewer.
Any more questions? email us at emma@tuscanyumbria.com
6. What is your cancellation policy?
The booking deposit is non returnable. As we only ask you to pay
the final amount two months before the start, we do not usually
return any of that for a late cancellation. However, we look at
each case and if the property is re-let we do return some or all
of the money paid.
Europeans usually take out inexpensive holiday insurance to cover
cancellation and general holiday risk.
7. Can extra people be accommodated?
The houses and apartments have beds as described on each webpage,
and generally speaking these cannot be re-arranged, so each house
has a maximum number of people who can be accommodated. We will
ask you for names of people in your party and numbers of couples/singles
so that out of the beds available, the right numbers can be prepared
for you. We cannot accept extra people above the names we have
on file, and owners/managers of houses will not admit a party
with extra guests.
8. Is Italy an expensive country?
The small towns and villages of our area are not expensive. You
can have a pizza for between €3 and €6 (£2 - £4),
and a cappuccino from 85 cents (always less than €1). A quality
meal will only be about €30 including wine. A supermarket
trolley of foods will cost about the same as in the UK. Ice cream
is the best in the world and costs very little. You can still
get leather ware, pottery and art at bargain prices. The markets
sell casual clothing, shoes, linen, leather goods at very low
rates.
Train travel is highly susidised making it good value : the trains
still run to time !
Tolls on the "autostrade" are very reasonable - about
a third of the cost in France.
Tales in newspapers about "expensive Italy" refer to
accommodation and meals in the large centres, Rome, Florence etc.
The cost of domestic gas and electricity are very high which does
not affect tourists except in the winter months but affects Italians
greatly.
Italians believe the introduction of the euro has created massive
inflation but to the regular foreign visitor there has been little
noticeable change.
Although the areas in which we rent have foreign visitors through
the year, they have not been given over to tourism as has happened
in some parts of Italy. The cafes and restaurants are used by
the local population too.
9. How does your booking process work?
We agree the rental of a particular house or apartment for stated
dates by either email or telephone, and ask you to send a deposit
as a confirmation of your intention. The house/apartment is not
then advertised further for those dates.
We send a receipt for the deposit, usually by post, along with
a date for final payment which is about 2 months before the planned
rental. We also send an information form for you to fill in showing
the names of guests and the numbers of couples/singles. There
is a space to indicate if you need a cot. Then or later we need
an eta to pass on to the owner or manager.
After full payment we send a further receipt and directions with
a local map, also usually by post.